St. Paul, Minnesota man arrested in ICE surge sent to Guantanamo Bay
St. Paul man arrested in ICE surge sent to Guantanamo Bay
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — {"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Immigration authorities have sent a Somali man arrested in St. Paul to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Arrest and charges
Adam Abdullah was living legally in the Twin Cities when federal agents pulled him over in December.
","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Abdullah has no criminal record, but the government is holding him at a military prison set up for terrorism suspects.
","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Abdullah, 31, had only 10 minutes to speak with by phone from Guantanamo on Tuesday, but that was just enough time for him to explain what happened when federal agents stopped his vehicle on December 12, at the start of what the Trump Administration called Operation Metro Surge.","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"“When they come to me, and I ask them why you pulled me over, they say, ‘We are immigration, so give me your work permit,’” Abdullah said.
“And I asked them, ‘Do you have a warrant, and what’s the reason to pull me over?’ And they say, ‘We don’t need a warrant; we are immigration, and we know you are Adam Abdullah.’”","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Abdullah said that authorities never explained why they targeted him.
He came to the U.S. as an asylum seeker in 2023, got a work permit and Social Security number, and made his living as an auto mechanic.
He appeared regularly for check-ins with ICE.
","type":"text"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"Over the last nine months, Abdullah was moved from the Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea, Minn., to a detention center in Covington, Ky., and then to Louisiana.
